The issue: Generation gap is hindering
communication
I am concerned about the generation gap in our IT department. I
and my three closest colleagues are in our fifties. Most of the
other staff are in their twenties and seem to have little interest
in long-term career development. Virtually all of them listen to
iPods while they work, which doesn't help staff communication.
Should I try to adopt a "younger" approach or ban the iPods and get
tough?
The solutions:
Adopt a fresh attitude to dealing with young
staff
Presumably you are the head of department, otherwise you are not
in a position to "get tough". Getting tough in any event is
probably the worst thing you could try: if your younger staff show
little interest in career development, why should they hang around
if you are adopting such an attitude?
Most of the people I work with are 20 to 35 years younger than
me I do not find it a problem, but like all relationships it needs
some work. Here are a few of the "attitudes" I try to adopt.
● Recognise that yes, the young are different. They have been
brought up and educated in a different way to your generation - it
does not make the environment you were brought up in better - just
different.
● Try not to be pompous or superior - age confers no superiority
at all.
● Do not claim to be more experienced - yes, years do give more
exposure to management and inter-personal relationship issues, but
the "youngsters" may well have far more experience in specific
technology areas, for example.
● Show respect - you cannot expect this to be a one-way issue.
They will have qualities, skills and attributes, both professional
and in their personal lives, that deserve respect.
● Do not try to become "one of the lads" - there is nothing
sadder. But you can relax with them and socialise to some
extent.
● Be prepared to take a joke, be prepared for some gentle leg
pulling - it shows you are human.
● Be prepared to listen, their perspective may well adjust your
perspective.
Listening to music if it helps productivity cannot be bad -
again it is just different to the way you do things. After all,
people come to work to do just that, not to spend the day
socialising.
Having said that, what about the coffee machine break? Try to
utilise this as a time to chat - but give them some space, they
will not want you at their shoulder every time they go for a
coffee.
Incidentally, I am sure you are confident that the iPods are
outputting music and not inputting data?
Yes to adopting a younger approach, so long as you do not go too
far. Show some interest in their outside work interests and
commitments, and talk about yours.
You mention a lack of interest in long-term career development:
is that so surprising, given the general employment situation and
our industry in particular?
Many young people are looking at numerous job and even career
changes over their working life - again different to the older
generation where one employer for life was not an unusual
scenario.
You need to find out some more about why they appear to have a
lack in long-term career development.
If you are the boss and you are about 30 years older, then it is
very much down to you to work hard to bridge the gaps. If you
succeed and develop good relationships, you will find it very
rewarding and invigorating - I know I do.
Solution by Robin Laidlaw, president of the Computer Weekly
500 Club
Make sure younger team members feel
involved
Your concerns about the "generation gap" between older and
younger colleagues raises a number of issues. Personally, I find
working with younger people can be stimulating and challenging, and
after all, the younger members of the team are the leaders of the
future. The complementary opportunity is for the older members of
the team to be effective role models for the juniors. I do not
think it is so much a question of banning iPods, more of instilling
in the younger members of the team effective working practices.
Many developers find music helps, and providing they are
developing code and not supposed to be interacting with colleagues
or users, I would not attempt to try to prevent the silent iPod.
However, for those whose main role is interacting with internal (or
external) clients, I would encourage communication and
listening.
Make sure the younger team members feel involved with what is
going on. It would not be ethical or legal to select your team on
grounds of age, but I would aim for a reasonably diverse workforce,
not polarised in age or any other direction. In my view diversity
aids creativity.
Solution by Ben Booth, chairman of BCS IT directors group
Elite
This is an opportunity to shape the whole
team
In these situations it is important to look much wider and
tackle root causes. You will then be more likely to achieve a
lasting success. An authoritarian ban could highlight the
generation gap (unless you must enforce an existing policy
restricting the connection of USB mass storage devices to the
network), and I suspect you and the rest of our generation would
struggle to carry off the hoodie look.
In your current leadership position you have an ideal
opportunity to shape and influence the whole team and set the
parameters. Rather than adopting a younger approach, bring the
experience of your 50-something years to bear.
Start talking to the staff in your department. Listen to what
they perceive to be their reality. Clarify to them what it is that
you expect or need. If you have difficulty with this then you may
face a bigger problem (or opportunity) in needing to clarify your
department's role in supporting the wider organisation.
It is then down to you all to determine how to continue to
maintain an open dialogue and to take what you hear forwards -
perhaps through holding team building events ensuring that teams
contain a mix of skills and experiences creating "quiet zones" for
those who need them communicating with the department via podcasts
or banning iPods if the consensus is that they hinder achieving
individual or departmental objectives.
The key to success, however, will require building upon what you
have in common and effectively utilising the diversity within your
organisation, rather than dwelling on perceived differences.
Solution by Neil Robertson, senior manager at professional
services firm Ernst & Young
Encourage the team to share skills and
abilities
Bridging the age divide within an IT environment can present
difficulties. While it is important to lead, manage and develop
younger staff, they can often feel patronised or disinterested.
I would suggest that you develop a formal skills matrix which
documents each individual's skills and abilities. You can then look
at identifying a primary and secondary skills holder. Then seek to
formalise skills arrangements by teaming people up in order to
skills share and to increase the resilience of skills within the
team. You may also wish to make skills sharing and knowledge
transfer a formal objective for staff.
If you are not keen on pursuing a formal management approach to
the communication and age divide, then perhaps a more traditional
team building exercise may help. Often small outings such as mixing
teams in an organised pub quiz can help. Alternatively, team
meetings on management issues such as strategy development can
encourage staff to open up and share ideas.
I would urge you not to implement a blanket ban on the iPods you
do not want to be viewed as a dictatorship. Rather, try to
encourage the staff to share skills, experience and ideas.
Solution by Roger Rawlinson, director of IT consultancy at
NCC Group
Instigate alternative communication methods
If you want to alienate your staff, banning the iPods will
achieve instant success. The question to ask is what impact are the
iPods having on productivity? Do they enhance or lessen
performance?
Providing the answer is the former, which I suspect it is (with
young people music often helps concentration and blocks out
unwanted distractions), then instigate an alternative communication
mechanism such as coffee and croissants for 30 minutes each
morning.
Encourage them to take time out and have lunch together and join
them yourself. You do not need to adopt a younger approach, after
all you do not want to become "mutton dressed as lamb", but you do
need to take an interest in your staff and what they are doing both
inside and outside of work.
Solution by Robina Chatham, visiting fellow in information
Systems at Cranfield School of Management
Revitalise your operating model to bridge age
gap
You need to start by unpicking two very different issues - the
age gap between managers and staff, and the use of iPods while
working.
For the age gap, it sounds like your operating model and
succession plans need revitalising. It is tempting to think, as you
do, that your younger staff's problem is a lack of interest in
long-term career development. For those that want to stick to a
technical role, this may well true. However, for others I think
they may be hinting at another, more subtle, message.
If all their senior managers are now into their fifties, then
maybe the IT management roles in your company need a rethink. They
could be based on an obsolete IT operating model which will not
appeal to aspiring new managers, who are likely to hear of more
forward-thinking and interesting roles appearing elsewhere.
It is always worth remembering that they will understandably be
thinking about the long-term relevance of their CV in what is still
a rapidly-evolving environment.
The question regarding iPods is a different one, and centres on
how this affects individual productivity and the wider working
culture. There are some roles where listening to music is helpful,
and some where it clearly is not.
Unless you want to implement a blanket ban, I suggest you
establish and apply some role-based principles so that people know
where they stand.
Solution by Chris Potts, director at consultancy Dominic
Barrow
Focus on encouraging team communication
The core issue that you have highlighted is communication, which
is a ubiquitous problem. It is not just about the generation gap,
although that is one potential cause.
Perhaps the focus should be on deciding what methods and levels
of communication you want to encourage, and agreeing with all your
staff how to foster that type of environment.
You also raise the question of the attitude of younger staff to
long-term career development. It may be helpful to assess how
committed to professional development and learning these staff are,
as opposed to a long-term company career. They may have judged that
developing skills is what will keep them in a job rather than a
more traditional approach to moving up the ladder within a single
organisation.
The issue you raise is topical with the new legislation on age
discrimination that applies to both older and younger staff. It is
now imperative that all organisations consider how they deal with
potential generation gap issues. Your question raises some key
points that demonstrate this will not be an easy task.
Solution by Sharm Manwani, head of information management at
Henley Management College
Computer Weekly has put together a panel of experts whose
specialist knowledge you can draw on to solve a problem. E-mail
your questions (or your solution to this question) to
computer.weekly@rbi.co.uk